Defense industry news : BAE Systems has bagged two a couple of contract modifications worth up to $575 million from the US Army for the low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV).

According to BAE Systems, the contracts mark the start of low-rate production for the highly mobile, survivable, multipurpose vehicle designed to adhere to the standards of the US Army’s Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCT).

Commenting on the AMPV contracts, Bill Sheehy – AMPV program director for BAE Systems combat vehicles business, said: “Moving into this phase of the AMPV program is exciting because it brings soldiers one step closer to deploying this critical capability for completing their missions and coming home safely.

“We have been preparing for this moment and are ready to take this program to the next stage.”

BAE Systems said that funding for production planning, which was previously awarded, and the $128 million contract awarded in January enabled the company to begin production. Another award in February for $447 million has taken the total LRIP funding to $873 million till date.

The AMPV program gives the US Army with a more survivable and mobile fleet of vehicles that addresses its critical requirement to replace the M113s of the Vietnam War-era.

BAE Systems said that production will cover five variants of the AMPV, which are command and control, general purpose, medical evacuation, mortar carrier and medical treatment.

The company said that AMPV is a mature, cost-effective solution that utilizes the most modern and proven combat vehicle designs. It adheres to the US Army’s force protection and all-terrain mobility requirements, which allows the AMPV to be maneuvered with the rest of the ABCT.

Commonality within the ABCT also brings down developmental risk and optimizes maintenance, thereby resulting in considerable cost savings to the US Army, said BAE Systems.

Under an earlier engineering, manufacturing and development award, Systems manufactured and supplied prototype vehicles to the US Army for the sake of test and evaluation.

The initial award in 2014 also gave options to commence the LRIP phase before the completion of the EMD phase, at which time BAE Systems would manufacture up to nearly 460 more vehicles for a cumulative contract value of up to $1.2 billion.

  Armored Brigade Combat Teams, Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, BAE Systems, Bill Sheehy, Defense industry news, US Army